Sex in the Middle Ages: a beautiful fairy tale or an unbearable life
Of course, sex did take place in the Middle Ages, but thanks to clerical rules and regulations in the field of relations between men and women, its form was perverted in the understanding of modern man.
Contents of the article:
- Bacchanalia and Dionysian Mysteries
- Rules for a woman”s behavior in bed with her husband
- Manifestation of courtly love
- Marital fidelity and chastity belts
- Guest night
- Permitted and deviant sex positions
- Other types of sex
- Sodomy or homosexuality
- Rise of prostitution and brothels
- Dildos and sex toys
- Exaggerated codpiece — a tribute to medieval fashion
- Contraception
- Divorces
- God”s law and wickedness
- Who wrote the draconian set of rules?
The Middle Ages covers a fairly wide period from the end of the 5th century. Before the 16th century, images of brave knights and well-groomed courtesans immediately come to mind, and the veiled relationships between them are shrouded in romance and love. However, few people know that the Middle Ages were also known as the Black Age.
At that time, the Church and the Inquisition interfered in the affairs of society, especially in the affairs of individuals. The Church has even poked its nose into sexual relations between husbands and wives.
Bacchanalia and Dionysian Mysteries
Antiquity was typical for many countries and peoples of that time by having several gods for worship, and in Ancient Rome and Greece their number was almost the same, but the names were different. Ancient Greek mythology is rich in various stories and fairy tales, the main characters of which are gods. They tell of wars, exploits and romances, including the intrigues of Zeus.
You can learn more about how they had sex in ancient times only from our article at the link!
Of particular note is the god Dionysus, the fruit of love between Zeus and human women (in Roman mythology he is known as Bacchus). In the spring, a holiday was held in his honor with a spectacular feast, performance and sacrifice of a bull — the animal on which Dionysus lived before his resurrection.
Since Dionysus was the god of wine and fun, during the holiday it was possible to drink wine in unlimited quantities, as well as stage performances in which participants talked about the life of the god, his death and resurrection. Such performances were called Mysteries of Dionysus or Bacchanalia, a term that later became a common word for the behavior of the crowd itself during the festival.
Due to the amount of wine consumed and the general mood of the crowd, the evening usually ended in a general orgy in honor of the traditions and wishes of the gods. In other words, the relationship between a man and a woman was somewhat free, but still not devoid of meaning and a certain romanticism. By the way, Christian preachers have not completely eradicated this tradition to this day. Some echoes of it can be seen in Bulgaria and northern Greece.
With the advent of Christianity, it is not surprising that representatives of the then new faith tried to prohibit such behavior. However, meaning should not be sought only in the high morality of the Christian faith. Deprived of their usual way of life, intimidated and subject to wild norms and rules, people were easily controlled by puppeteers.
With the advent of Christianity, people”s lives gradually began to change. The Church sought to control the lives of ordinary laymen more and more tightly, making personal relationships in families simply unbearable, and many of the laws and rules introduced by the servants of the Lord were simply ridiculous and ridiculous, not to say sad.
Chastity began to come into fashion, and all debauchery was first condemned and then severely punished. In their rules and punishments, the priests hid behind good intentions and the Bible, citing the fact that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin, and therefore all girls should behave the same. Usually with an unloved man.
Rules for a woman”s behavior in bed with her husband
During intercourse with her husband, his wife was forbidden to take off her nightgown, move or make sounds.
Otherwise, she could be accused of witchcraft, fornication, communicating with the devil, and even her fidelity could do this if he gets tired of her. At best, she was awaiting general shame, repentance, the repentance of the abbess of the monastery, fate.
The presence of writing in the Middle Ages allowed contemporaries to become familiar with some of the affairs that the church conducted. For example, the materials of one case concern the wife’s behavior in bed. In fact, the husband returned home after hunting. There he had his wife in the proper form recommended by the Church. The next morning he found her dead.
And she was dead during mating. Such stories shocked the Pope and members of the court, and the Church relaxed the rules, allowing wives to sometimes show signs of life during sexual intercourse. There are stories, and they could be made up, but there are also hints.
In general, sexual prohibitions, rules and regulations permeate not only the Middle Ages, but throughout the entire history of mankind. Scientists, thinkers, priests and legislators, including in the Middle Ages, wrote mountains of “works” to explain who people were, when, with whom and why one should have sex.
At that time, the personal lives of the laity were under the watchful eye of the clergy, and the manifestation of malice became one massive word: debauchery, often punishable by death.
The priests had an overwhelming interest in the personal lives of their parishioners. They were interested in literally every aspect, which was recorded in detail in the book of repentance during the trial. It is thanks to this that scientists can easily imagine the place of sex in the life of medieval people.
Manifestation of courtly love
Although open expressions of sexual interest in the object of desire were prohibited, the Church recognized that love and sex had a common background.
The manifestation of a knight”s feelings for the lady of his heart is considered polite love, but the knight must certainly be fearless, and the maiden must be unapproachable. Women could marry, but at the same time they had to be faithful to their husbands and were forbidden to openly show their feelings to each other. It was possible to secretly exchange glances and gestures and create hints of reciprocity.
Marital fidelity and chastity belts
The Church assumes the existence of conjugal sexual relations only in legal marriage. Domestic and non-homosexual sexual relations were severely punished, sometimes with the death penalty or long-term repentance in the church. The Church acted in its role as prosecutor, judge and executor of punishment. Laws were based not only on moral principles. Thanks to the fidelity of marriage, representatives of the nobility and monarchs could be sure that the children born were truly their heirs.
Read also: Sex according to folk tales: fairy tales that people believe in
All people can be divided into two groups: those who explain their lives from the point of view of rationalism, and those for whom it is easier to find a cause-and-effect relationship.
Initially, the main function of the chastity belt was to make it more difficult for women to be robbed and possibly raped while traveling. Over time, I have enjoyed my wife”s chastity belt during military campaigns and when not traveling.
It was a frame with a lock that covered the woman’s groin area, preventing another man from penetrating her, and had holes for the natural drainage of waste products. Often husbands were absent from home for a long time, and then the wife was forced to take her place. In this case, the belt had to be removed in the obligatory presence of a blacksmith, witnesses and representatives of the church.
As for the peasants, it is reliably known that the first night laws existed in medieval England. According to it, the nobles who owned the land on which the village or settlement was located had the opportunity to be the first to “taste” the young bride. Moreover, the Church recognizes such incidents.
Guest night
To avoid awkwardness in family life, in Germany and Switzerland it was customary to test a potential groom for “male strength.” It all started when he came to his beloved at night and started a conversation with her. This subsequently led to an infamous sexual relationship. If a woman became pregnant, a wedding was held.
If the partners decide that they are not suitable for each other, the couple may separate. It is interesting to note that such “dates” were common not only among ordinary families, but also among monarchs and aristocrats.
Permitted and deviant sex positions
The Church instructed the laity in what positions were necessary for sexual intercourse. Any position other than “missionary” was considered sinful and prohibited by the Church. However, for the nobility and rich people, four more positions were allowed, arranged in order of increasing sinfulness.
The above innovations were introduced to please the nobility and the rich. This was because they were often obese and unable to have sex with their wives in their charitable missionary capacity. The Church could not deprive patients of their reproductive potential and met them halfway.
Other types of sex
During the Middle Ages, oral and anal sex, as well as masturbation, were prohibited and were not permitted under any circumstances. This was the only possible reason for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman. Violators were severely punished.
Sodomy or homosexuality
The church”s attitude towards homosexual relations was unequivocal: violators of the law were subjected to severe punishment and died. Such perversions were considered unnatural and were forbidden by God. In the 12th — 13th centuries, homosexuals were burned and subjected to various tortures, probably in order to drive away demons and atone for sins.
However, there is evidence that members of the royal family and nobility were often involved in homosexual relationships. For example, King “Richard the Lionheart” had sexual relations with his brother during his wedding to the king-elect.
Although the knight representing the command was not allowed to participate in military operations, he found a way to take with him a squire, who was entrusted not only with direct functions, but also with the sexual satisfaction of his master.
You can learn more about what sodomy is from the article given at the link below.
Rise of prostitution and brothels
Prostitution was widespread in the Middle Ages. Even in small villages, for example, representatives of this ancient profession worked. They could be beaten, dismembered, accused of debauchery, or even killed.
Intimate life in the Middle Ages (narrated by historian Olga Togoeva)
In the Middle Ages, prostitution was not condemned, since, according to the priests, only the “money for goods” relationship could protect society from sexual corruption, adultery and soda.
Needless to say, most publicans in medieval Europe were in the church service, presumably to monitor their adherence to moral principles. In addition, the Church accepted good women from the work of the House of Tolerance and therefore was in no hurry to close them.
Dildos and sex toys
In the Middle Ages, according to surviving data from penitential books, women actively used pharoemitters or objects similar to them. Before the Renaissance, they did not have specific names.
Typically, portraits of the penis were made of leather with various fillings. There were no specific sizes for dildos; they corresponded to the sinfulness of female desire.
Exaggerated codpiece — a tribute to medieval fashion
In the Middle Ages, men had their own fashion, but the church, to put it mildly, did not welcome it. Galf leather or fabric was placed in a cycle of clothing, secured with ribbons or leather belts.
Inside it was filled with sawdust or rags. It did not perform any useful function, but emphasized male dignity and, therefore, male sexuality. In the modern world, it looked like a male genital organ built into trousers, although the beauty of such wardrobe elements can be considered questionable.
Bays were prohibited in public places, but such restrictions did not apply to monarchs. Many paintings by contemporaries of the past preserved the image of a dressed man, an integral attribute of which was the abyss.
Contraception
Anything that prevents the natural conception of children, that is, contraception, has never been approved by the Church. At that time, the Church was busy catching sodomists, which led to condemnation and cutting for the Fair Hearing Commission on the issue of relationships between men and women. Therefore, contraception was considered a minor offense rather than a sin.
Divorces
In principle, this is unacceptable, although no one did this in the Middle Ages. The only reason for divorce was either the death of one of the spouses or the sexual dysfunction of the man (no one could be called a woman; the only reason for divorce was the death of one of the spouses).
To prove her husband”s sexual dysfunction, the wife invited church priests and women to act as “church-accredited experts” in the field. They carefully examined the male organs and forced the couple to mate in front of a crowd. As a rule, the male turned out to be weaker. They still exist!
God”s law and wickedness
The set of restrictive and prohibitive rules established by medieval church ministers, to their credit, has many contradictions with individual words of the population, or rather, with their various interpretations. According to the church canon, the girl was related to this fashion, which was the right of the first night, when she was forced to defend herself not for the sake of Uncle Raven Horse, but for the sake of her lawful husband.
Who wrote the draconian set of rules?
There is now a clear consensus, as defined by modern sexual scientists and psychologists, that the rule for “crazy behavior” is the rule for “not-crazy-behavior.” Here the rules of sexual relations and crazy behavior in bed are spelled out and introduced.
The invention and implementation of the set of church rules in the relationship between a man and a woman was carried out by monks who were not allowed to marry. They led a secluded life, and their goal was to cleanse their souls and the souls of their parishioners, sometimes even through torture.
This was the source of their desire, they viewed women as almost demonic spawn, one of the beauties, if they could do it, who in every possible way strives to lure men into fornication and debauchery, but, perhaps, is not averse to indulging in the pleasures of the flesh. That is why they created the “Dragon Rule” for their communities, as they say, “neither themselves nor people.”
Historians and philosophers are still inclined to believe that the medieval period was stagnant and there was no progress either in the technological or scientific fields. Attempts at any kind of evidence were rejected by the church and theorists, completely obvious to modern people, theorists were recognized as heretics and subjected to torture of sacred interrogation.
As for the social sphere and gender in the Middle Ages, the church not only did not engage in their development, but also returned them to the primitive communal system, when mating between males and females occurred only when offspring.
